Starting college is like starting a new volume in your autobiography. Right now it
is full of crisp, blank pages. Each day you will write something on those pages by the decisions you
make and the habits you form. At the end you will have four years´ worth of virtue, beauty, and
worthy memories – or else pages and pages scribbled with self-indulgence, wasted time, and regrets.
Every day, with all its opportunities and challenges, makes up part of your story, and only you can
determine how it goes. I would offer you one little observation in that regard: it will help
immensely to remind yourself that God is lovingly interested in each one of those pages and in what
gets written on them. You may even want to start writing something like "God cares!" at the top of
the page when you´re taking notes in class to remind you of this. He really does; and he has
something great in store for you. All he needs is for you to do your best and follow his lead,
and you will discover it.

Today´s saint is a marvelous example of
cooperating with God´s providence. Giuseppe Sarto was a peasant boy from northeastern Italy. A good
student, well liked, and with a lively faith, his parish priest recommended that he be sent to the
seminary in Padua. It was a great sacrifice for his poor family to let him go, but they accepted it
with faith. The young man always dedicated himself with good cheer to his formation, as difficult as
it often was. God blessed him with a deep, vibrant charity and a sure, pastoral prudence. From the
very beginning, his ministry was marked by a concern for the poor and an uncompromising dedication
to prayer. Everywhere his bishop sent him, he renewed the faith of the people. Eventually, he
himself was made bishop of Mantua, a diocese in terrible straits. So wisely and quickly did he set
things in order (spiritually and materially) that the Pope appointed him to the grand Patriarchate
of Venice, which he nobly served for ten years, before being elected Pope himself in 1903.

For centuries, Popes had been drawn from the ranks of scholars and diplomats,
but here, much to the world´s surprise, was a simple peasant priest. To the end of his days the
regalia and protocol of high office burdened him, but his love for the Church and for Christ
prompted him to set in motion a renewal whose ripples continued to spread even into the Second
Vatican Council. He authorized the movement for liturgical reform, for more frequent communion, for
a rejection of modern atheistic philosophies, and for many other religious and diplomatic causes
that shone brilliantly in an age darkened by the imminence of war. Indeed, it was the outbreak of
World War I, which he had predicted even to the month and year, which finally broke down his
indomitable verve. Upon the declaration of war, he said, "This is the last affliction that the Lord
will visit on me. I would gladly give my life to save my poor children from this ghastly scourge."
Give his life he did, just a few days later, though the scourge raged on.

You will find a thorough biography of Pope St Pius X inspiring reading as you
begin this new stage of life. It will help you throw yourself heart and soul into everything God
asks of you, making every page a worthy tale – which is the best (and only) way to brave the great
adventure of life.

Join the new media evangelization. Your tax-deductible gift allows Catholic.net to build a culture of life in our nation and throughout the world. Please help us promote the Church's new evangelization by donating to Catholic.net right now. God bless you for your generosity.